Hammock and elevator.



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rre TATES JOSEPH CALHOUN LASSITER, OFGREENSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA.

HAiVl MOCK AN D ELEVATO SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 635,261, dated October 1*?, 1899.

Application filed June 4,1898. Serial No. 682,569. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOSEPH CALHOUN LAssITER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greensborough, in the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hammocks and Elevators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to hammocks and ele vators therefor, and has for its object the production of a novel form of hammock especially designed for the use of invalids or weak persons, in connection with a supporting and elevating frame whereby the hammock may be raised and lowered any desired degree and tilted to the necessary angle to bringthe patient to a sitting position.

It is also one of the objects of the invention to construct the elevator-frame so that the same may be extended or contracted in length,thus accommodating it to hammocks of different lengths and enabling the device to be employed as a cradle for rocking infants.

In connection with the frame of the device a collapsible and detachable table and folding supports therefor are employed, the said table being designed for the reception of the patients meals and also for holding books, papers, and other articles.

The hammock is formed with an opening or slit for enabling the patient to evacuate and is provided with one or more iiaps secured by fasteners, such as buckles, the iiaps serving to shield the patient from exposure while at stool.

The detailed objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear in the course of the subjoined description.

The invention consists in certain novel features and details of construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a hammock and supporting-frame constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, l designates a pair of standards braced by means of diverging feet 2, resting upon the ground. These standards may be of any desired height and are adj ustably connected at or near their upper ends by a spacing and spreading rod 3, the. same extending horizontally and having its opposite ends threaded and extended through the standards. At each end the rod 3 is providedA with clamping-nuts 4t and 5, located upon the inner and outer sides of the standards, by means of which the standards may be moved nearer to or farther from each other for the purpose of accommodating the frame to hammocks of different sizes and also enabling considerable sag to be given to the cords or rope which support the hammock, so that the latter may be used as a cradle for rocking an infant.

The hammock (indicated at 6) may be of netting or open-work, or it may be formed of canvas, and in carrying out the present invention the body of the hammock is provided at a suitable point with a longitudinal slit or opening 7, through which the patient may evacuate into a suitable commode or receptacle placed beneath. At one side of the opening 7 is secured a iiap 8, provided at its free edge with straps or buckles 9, designed to engage complementary fastenings on the body of the hammock for closing the openingwhen not in use. Instead of one iap two iaps may be employed, provided at their meeting edges with buckles and straps. Then the iiaps are down, they effectively conceal and hide the exposed parts of the patient. Additional flaps at the ends of the opening may be employed, if desired, for further concealing the person.

At its corners the hammock is provided with hooks 10, which engage eyes at the ends of a pair of yokes or spreaders 11, supported by the trifurcated ends of hoisting and suspending ropes 12. The head-rope runs over one portion of a double pulley 13, journaled within a recess or opening 14 in the head-standard, and thence downward, where it is fastened to a drum or windlass mounted on a longitudinal shaft 15, one end of which lis mounted in the head-standard and the other IOO end in the central portion of a U-shaped bracket 16, the terminal portions of which are secured to opposite sides of the head-standard.

The rope which connects to the foot of the hammock extends upward over a small grooved pulley I7 and under and around a superimposed larger grooved pulley 1S, both located and journaled in an opening in the foot-standard, the rope then extending hori` zontally to the head-standard, where it passes over the other portion of the double-grooved pulley, and thence down to the drum or windlass If). The shaft of the windlass is extended aud provided with au operating crankhandle. Connected to the windlass is a ratchet-wheel, which is engaged by a pawl 2O for preventing the ropes from unwinding, thus sustaining the hammock at any desired elevation.

The head of the hammock may be held in an elevated position while the foot is lowered by means of a clamping-nut 2l, threaded upon a lixed stu 22, projecting from the outer side of the head-standard and having at its base a stationary plate 23, against which the headrope maybe clamped by said nut. In operation the hammock is first raised. The headrope is then clamped between the nut 2l and plate 23, after which the windlass is turned, which slackens the foot-rope and allows the foot of the hammock to descend, thus bringing the patient to a sitting position.

Iivotally connected to the foot-stan dard on opposite sides thereof are two swinging supports 24, which may be folded vertically against the standard or moved downward to horizontal positions for supportinga shelf in the form of a table 25, provided on its under side with spaced cleats 26, which straddle and engage the supports 24 and prevent lateral slipping of the table thereon, while admitting of the adjustment of the shelf longitudinally on said supports. Vhen in their horizontal position, the supports 2 are upheld by L-shaped brackets or keepers 27 on opposite sides of the foot-standard.

Connected pivotally to the head-standard is a pair of similar supports 2S, designed to uphold horizontally a shelf in the form of a seat 29, having an opening 30, upon which the patient may be lowered while at stool.

Attached to the top of each standard is a T-shaped canopy-support 31, the head porentry while the ward is being swept andcleaned. The frame may be placed over a patients bed or cot and the hammock lowered. After the patient has been moved upon the hammock the latter may be hoisted, after .which the hammock-frame may be moved to one side away from the bed or the bed may be moved from beneath the hammock. By adjusting the standards toward each other and raising the hoisting-ropes the hammock may be used asa cradle for rocking an infant.

It will of course be understood that the device hereinabove described is susceptible of changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construetion,wl1ich may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a hammock, and a supporting-frame therefor, comprisinga pair 4of standards,two ropes connected respectively to the opposite ends of the hammock,pulleys on the standards over which the ropes run, a windlass on one standard on which the ropes are wound, and afriction-clamp on one standard located near and in operative relation to both ropes so as to engage and hold either one of the ropes while the remaining rope is left free to be operated by the windlass, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH CALHOUN LASSITER.

lVitnesses:

W. B. BOGART, W. F. BOGART. 

